lennyba

Hi all -

I've just been asked to do a quick recruiting trip to a couple of towns outside Boston. I could use some help with logistics. One day I'll be in Gloucester, one day in New Bedford, and one day will be Lenny's bonus sightseeing day in the city. This will be the week after Thanksgiving FWIW.

Would you recommend staying in an airport hotel? I'm very comfortable using Priceline and don't mind taking public transportation into the city for my play day if staying near the airport makes dealing with the rental car and getting to the outlying towns easier.

Is there any way to get from Gloucester back to Boston via public transportation? Any idea how much a cab would cost? I many need to leave my co-worker there with the car and head back on my own.

TIA

kealalani

Hey lennyba,
The commuter rail runs to Gloucester.
MBTA.com
Understand the logisics of your colleque driving from Gloucester, picking you up in Boston and travelling to New Bedford is quite a commute. Two opposite sides of the state.

An option might be to pick up the car and stay in Gloucester on Atlantic Ave, have dinner at Franklin cafe and travel from there to NB and then spend the lenny night in Boston

Oh and call a cab company in gloucester to see what the going rate for airport runs is - I'd figure $50 and up.

Good luck!

lennyba

Hi kealalani - Thanks for the tips. When I first looked at where Gloucester and New Bedford are located, that was my first thought - "they're on opposite sides of the state". Then I realized that's really only about 125 miles.

gail

This is a geographically nutty trip - but I understnad it is not your choice. Boston to Gloucester is about 45 minutes drive time, and not too complicated. As mentioned, mbta.com will give time info - trains run far less often in non-rush hour times. A cab from Gloucester to Boston would be pricey.

New Bedford is on the south coast, near Rhode Island. Distance is about the same.

Where to stay depends on sequence of your trip and means of transportation to/from Gloucester and Worcester. If you are taking mbta train, then a hotel in downtown Boston makes sense.

Driving from downtown area to highways to either Gloucester or New Bedford is not difficult.

Is your colleague planning to, on New Bedford day, drive Gloucester to Boston to New Bedford and then back to Boston? Doable, but not fun, since drive into Boston from the north and then back into Boston after New Bedford would likely be at rush hour.

lennyba

Gail - yes, I wouldn't have arranged it this way were it a pleasure trip. My colleague is staying in Boston as well, but he wants to stay in Gloucester after our work is done, while I don't. So far the plan is to fly in Monday evening, go to New Bedford Tuesday morning and return to Boston, then go to Gloucester Wednesday.

gail

In that case, an airport hotel is fine for Monday, Tues. Since you need to hop on the highway Tues and Wed AM, the airport has as good proximity to these as any other place - you can take Ted Williams tunnel out of airport area when you head south and can easily get on Rte 1 (to Rte 128) to Gloucester.

And it does make more sense for you to be carless in Boston than your colleague carless in Gloucester.

So the real question is where to stay Wednesday night while you sightsee. If not for luggage, I would say spend one night in Boston downtown. (Or 2 if you are leaving Friday AM and not Thursday late). If you are a light luggage traveler, pack up Wednesday AM, put stuff in trunk of car and then when done Wednesday take train to Boston with luggage.

If that is not practical, then I would continue on at airport hotel.

Anonymous

In Boston, the airport itself is just 2 subway stops from downtown, one of the most convenient in the nation. But be careful to check the actual locations of any hotels that you consider booking in the Boston area, especially ones with "airport" associated with their name. Some of them are rather distant from the airport and rely on shuttles to get you there, which is not what your circumstances warrant. If you're using Priceline, bid on a hotel that's in the Downtown or Copley area, there are car-rental outposts scattered throughout the city and that could work out much mroe convenient than one of the "airport" hotels.